22 Mo. 378 | Mo. | 1856
delivered the opinion of the court.
The question here is, whether the deed from Holcomb to W. W. Phelps & Co. can be allowed to take effect as a legal conveyance of the land to Phelps, Whitmore and Cowdry, the persons composing the partnership, upon parol proof of that fact, and we think it can not. The question, it is to be observed, is as to legal rights, and not as to the equities of the parties; and we may further observe, it is not merely whether the grantor intended to convey to the persons composing the firm, but whether the partnership style is as a matter of law a good
But, however this may be elsewhere, it is certain that, under our law, the parties, even to a legal conveyance of real property, may be identified either by their names, without any further
We repeat, the only question in the present case is, whether the description the deed gives of Phelps, Whitmore and Cowdry is of “ that certainty which the law will allow to be tried,” so as to constitute these persons competent grantees in a legal conveyance of real property. The objection here is not to the admission of the parol proof, merely as such; for such evidence is admissible, to some extent, to determine the application of every written instrument. It is always received to show the correspondence of the parties claiming, and the thing claimed, with the description given of them in the deed. The descriptive matter, whatever it may be, must be in the deed, or in some other written instrument to which the deed refers ; but the evidence, that a particular person or thing answers to the description, is necessarily by parol. To this extent, we must always look outside of the instrument, to ascertain what is meant by it. Neither does the objection here turn merely on the fact, whether or not it be possible, by means of the description, to ascertain the persons intended. That was possible in several of the cases referred to, especially in the New York case ; for the Judge there admits, that although the description given would be insufficient as a legal description of the persons to take as the grantees of the legal estate, they were yet sufficient
It is a matter of great interest to the country, that its land titles should be kept as free as possible from uncertainty. For this purpose, the law has required them to be put in writing, and in order to give them publicity, has also required that they be put upon a public registry. That these provisions may be effectual for the purposes for which they were intended, the rules of the common luw, as to the designation of the parties, must be maintained in their vigor. None of the adjudicated cases go to the length that we are now asked to go, and we
We must not, however, be misunderstood; our present decision refers to the transfer of the legal estate only, and does not touch the equitable rights of the parties growing out of the transaction. It is not to be extended to the disposition of personal property, nor are we to be understood as declaring, that the same rule would be applicable to a devise of real property; but the point decided is confined to the very case now before us — a legal conveyance inter vivos of real property.
the judgment is affirmed.